First, I would like to thank God and give Him all praise and honor for placing within me a level of sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Thank You Heavenly Father. You know my dirt and all my shortcomings, yet You still call me and let me know that Your love for me has never changed. Thank You! I don't know if it's only me that has experienced this, the feeling of God's presence one minute, then the feeling of God's presence being absent the next? This morning July 25,2020 I woke up this morning feeling so compelled to get into the Word of God, I felt as if its been a long time since I've checked in with my Father. I said to myself, 'I know He wants to have a word with me' because its been a while since I've purposely set aside time to just enter into His Presence. This morning I woke up and I grabbed my Bible. Before I begin reading I pray and ask God to give me a Word and I ask for the Holy Spirit to be my teacher and bless me with understanding. I began praying for people who are dear to me and thanking God for the privilege to be able to pray. Because there was a time in my life where I couldn't pray, I didn't believe that God would want to hear prayers coming from a person like me. But this morning while I was praying and going through a grocery list of things that I'm thankful and grateful for, I THANK GOD FOR HOPE! I thank God for the hope He gave me. When I really started to think about the hope that God has given me, (which is also available for every living person on the face of this planet) I began to weep. Tears began to flood my eyes, God took me back to the beginning and He was showing me all the blessings received, BEFORE I EVEN KNEW HIM. God showed me how He was blessing me before I was saved. Then I began to weep even more because I thought, 'who loves someone that don't even know you?' But God knew me before I knew myself. Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you" The second part of the scripture says, "Before you were born I sanctified you " I've read this scripture a few many times :-) since I got saved in 2001, however, this morning God took me back in time to show me my life, 'saved' and 'unsaved'. Before I knew God had sanctified me, I was sanctified. I like how the text is written in the Amplified version, it shares more detail. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you " Just this morning things started to make sense. That's why my appetite for the things I once loved, now I don't desire the taste. That's why even though God revealed Himself to me back in 2001, yet I've fallen a few times, He still won't give up on me. He continues to bring me to a place where I remember Him. God still places in my heart the need of His Presence. God has shown me, along the way, Through my ups and downs, and through my highs and lows, His hand is all over me and He will not let me go. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: to the Lord upholds him with His hand." Psalm 37:23,24 Amen
My request to anyone who is reading this is, take a moment, be still and reflect on your life, SAVED or UNSAVED and try to see how you've been blessed along the way throughout your life. Regardless of what you've been through, you've endured. I'm in prison and been in prison for 21 years and can still see how God has blessed me along the way. I believe God has blessed all of us along the way. Sometimes we just have to be still for a minute to recognize and acknowledge it.
PEACE and LOVE
GOD BLESS
Michael Rhem #723868 jpay.com